Kalanchoe daigremontiana

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Kalanchoe daigremontiana
Vivipary in Kalanchoe daigremontiana.jpg
Plantlets on leaves
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Kalanchoe
Species:
K. daigremontiana
Binomial name
Kalanchoe daigremontiana
Synonyms [1]
  • Bryophyllum daigremontianum(Raym.-Hamet & H.Perrier) A.Berger

Kalanchoe daigremontiana, formerly known as Bryophyllum daigremontianum and commonly called mother of thousands, alligator plant or Mexican hat plant, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. Like other members of Bryophyllum (now included in the genus Kalanchoe ), [1] it can propagate vegetatively from plantlets that develop on its leaf margins, as well as through upshoots from lateral roots, and seeds. All parts of this species contain a very toxic steroid known as daigremontianin. [2] [3]

Contents

It is often confused with Kalanchoe laetivirens, Kalanchoe delagoensis and Kalanchoe × houghtonii. The leaves of Kalanchoe laetivirens are completely green, while Kalanchoe daigremontiana has bands or spots on the back of leaves. The leaves of Kalanchoe delagoensis are linear, while Kalanchoe daigremontiana has lanceolate, oblong, ovate or triangular leaves. Kalanchoe × houghtonii is a hybrid between Kalanchoe daigremontiana and Kalanchoe delagoensis, therefore has characteristics in between; its leaves are narrower than those of Kalanchoe daigremontiana and its leaf base is attenuate, cuneate to weakly cordate or auriculate, while Kalanchoe daigremontiana has strongly cordate to auriculate or even peltate leaves. [4]

Morphology

Plants grow up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall [5] and have opposite and whorled, fleshy oblong-lanceolate leaves which grow up to 20 cm (8 in) long and 32 mm (1+14 in) wide. They are green above and blotched with purple underneath. Leaf margins have spoon-shaped bulbiliferous spurs which bear plantlets which may form roots while still attached to leaves. [6]

A plant may also develop lateral roots on its main stalk, as high up as 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) above the ground. A plant's upper leaves may grow large, causing its main stalk to bend downward. Then the lateral roots may enter soil and new vertical shoots may grow from the original shoot. Kalanchoe daigremontiana can spread by both seeds and by plantlets dropped from its leaves.

Kalanchoe daigremontiana has an umbrella-like terminal inflorescence (a compound cyme) of small bell-shaped, grayish pink (or sometimes orange) flowers. Flowering is, however, not an annual event and occurs sporadically if at all on some shoots. Particularly in climates with distinct seasonal temperature differences, flowering is most frequently observed at the beginning of a warm season. Indoor plants, as well as balcony plants which have been moved inside to survive the cold season, begin flowering in early winter.

As a succulent plant, Kalanchoe daigremontiana can survive prolonged periods of drought with little or no water. During growth periods with higher temperatures and increased water supply, this species requires proper nutrition, without which leaves show deficiency symptoms such as crippled growth and pustule-like lesions. The plant is not frost-hardy and typically dies in places where temperatures are below freezing.

Physiology

Plants of the genus Kalanchoe as well as many other plants growing in arid regions photosynthesize via Crassulacean acid metabolism.

Distribution

Kalanchoe daigremontiana is native to the Fiherenana River valley and Androhibolava mountains in southwest Madagascar. It has been introduced to numerous tropical and subtropical regions, such as Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and parts of southern Europe.

Habitat

Kalanchoe daigremontiana prefers to grow in rocky and dry places.

It can become an invasive plant and threaten natural ecosystems, especially in arid and semi-arid environments (South Africa and regions of South America for example), where it can inhibit native-plant recruitment. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Kalanchoe</i> Genus of flowering plants in the stonecrop family

Kalanchoe, also written Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë, is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A Kalanchoe species was one of the first plants to be sent into space, sent on a resupply to the Soviet Salyut 1 space station in 1979. The majority of kalanchoes require around 6–8 hours of sunlight a day; a few cannot tolerate this, and survive with bright, indirect sunlight to bright shade.

<i>Kalanchoe beharensis</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe beharensis is a plant species in the succulent genus Kalanchoe, and the family Crassulaceae. Kalanchoe beharensis is native to Madagascar known by local names mongy, rongy and tavitavy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutting (plant)</span> Method of propagating plants

A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosette (botany)</span> Botany term for a circular arrangement of leaves

In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves or of structures resembling leaves.

<i>Bryophyllum</i> Section of flowering plants

Bryophyllum is a group of plant species of the family Crassulaceae native to Madagascar. It is a section or subgenus within the genus Kalanchoe, and was formerly placed at the level of genus. This section is notable for vegetatively growing small plantlets on the fringes of the leaves; these eventually drop off and root. These plantlets arise from mitosis of meristematic-type tissue in notches in the leaves.

<i>Kalanchoe blossfeldiana</i> Species of succulent flowering plant

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a commonly cultivated evergreen house plant of the genus Kalanchoe native to Madagascar. It is known by the English common names flaming Katy, Christmas kalanchoe, florist kalanchoe and Madagascar widow's-thrill.

<i>Kalanchoe delagoensis</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe delagoensis, formerly known as Bryophyllum delagoense and commonly called mother of millions or chandelier plant, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. Like other members of Bryophyllum, it is able to propagate vegetatively from plantlets that develop on its leaf margins.

<i>Kalanchoe pinnata</i> Succulent plant native to Madagascar

Kalanchoe pinnata, commonly known as cathedral bells, air plant, life plant, miracle leaf, Goethe plant, and love bush, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. It is a popular houseplant and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. The species is distinctive for the profusion of miniature plantlets that form on the margins of its leaves, a trait it has in common with some other members of Bryophyllum.

<i>Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, formerly known as Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi, native to Madagascar, is widely sold as a house or garden plant that has established itself in the wild in some southern parts of the United States of America. Its specific epithet fedtschenkoi honors botanist Boris Fedtschenko (1873-1947).

<i>Dracaena pinguicula</i> Species of flowering plant

Dracaena pinguicula, synonym Sansevieria pinguicula, also known as the walking sansevieria, is a xerophytic CAM succulent native to the Bura area of Kenya, near Garissa. The species was described by Peter René Oscar Bally in 1943.

<i>Pachyphytum</i> Genus of succulents

Pachyphytum is a small genus of succulents in the family Crassulaceae, native to Mexico, at elevations from 600 to 1,500 metres. The name comes from the ancient Greek pachys (=thick) and phyton (=plant) because of the shape of the leaves.

<i>Ipomoea arborescens</i> Species of tree

Ipomoea arborescens, the tree morning glory, is a rapidly-growing, semi-succulent flowering tree in the family Convolvulaceae. This tropical plant is mostly found in Mexico, and flowers in late autumn and winter. Its common name in Nahuatl is Cazahuatl or Cazahuate.

<i>Kalanchoe manginii</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe manginii, beach bells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to Madagascar. It is an evergreen succulent perennial growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and wide, with arching branches of rounded, glossy leaves, and urn-shaped salmon-red flowers in spring. As the minimum temperature for growth is 10 °C (50 °F), in temperate regions this plant must be grown under glass as a houseplant.

<i>Crassula ovata</i> Species of succulent

Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers that is native to the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, and Mozambique; it is common as a houseplant worldwide. Much of its popularity stems from the low levels of care needed; the jade plant requires little water and can survive in most indoor conditions. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, Pachira aquatica also has this nickname.

<i>Hypericum undulatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum undulatum, the wavy St Johns Wort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to western Europe and northern Africa. The specific name undulatum is Latin, meaning "wavy" or "undulated", referring, just as the common name, to the wavy leaf margins of the herb. The plant has a diploid number of 16 or 32.

<i>Sempervivum ciliosum</i> Species of succulent

Sempervivum ciliosum, the Teneriffe houseleek is a species of flowering plant in the succulent stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, native to the Balkans and Southeastern Europe. Despite a superficial resemblance, houseleeks are not closely related to the American cacti family. A colony-forming evergreen perennial plant, each individual rosette can grow to around 7.5 cm (3.0 in) high and wide, forming dense mats of up to 50 cm (20 in) wide.

<i>Kalanchoe suarezensis</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe suarezensis is a species of Kalanchoe native to northern Madagascar.

Kalanchoe mortagei is a species of Kalanchoe native to northern Madagascar. It is very similar to K. suarezensis, and both of them used to be mistakenly treated as varieties of a totally different species K. poincarei. K. mortagei differs by having auriculate to peltate leaves, while the leaf base of K. suarezensis is attenuate to truncate.

<i>Kalanchoe <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> houghtonii</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe × houghtonii is a hybrid between Kalanchoe daigremontiana and Kalanchoe delagoensis named after Arthur Duvernoix Houghton. It is often confused with Kalanchoe daigremontiana which has strongly cordate to auriculate or even peltate leaves, while the leaves of Kalanchoe × houghtonii are narrower and the leaf base is attenuate, cuneate to weakly cordate or auriculate.

<i>Echeveria minima</i> Species of plant in the family Crassulaceae

Echeveria minima, the miniatureecheveria, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the stonecrop (sedum) family,Crassulaceae, native to northeastern Mexico. Among the many Echeveria species and cultivars, Echeveria minima, in particular, has rather small and diminutive, light-teal blue rosettes edged with pink leaf margins. The attractive, "artichoke"-like rosettes eventually produce enough offsets that they grow into a small colony, forming a low mound. Echeveria minima readily produces yellow, bell-shaped flowers on vertical inflorescences in the spring. A highly collectible succulent, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kalanchoe daigremontiana Raym.-Hamet & H.Perrier". Plants of the World Online. Kew Science. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  2. Wagner, Hildebert; Fischer, Manfred; Lotter, Hermann (1985). "New Bufadienolides from Kalanchoe daigremontiana Hamet et Perr. (Crassulaceae)" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Naturforschung B. 40 (9): 1226–1228. doi:10.1515/znb-1985-0920. S2CID   95146056.
  3. McKenzie, R. A.; Armstrong, T. R. (1986). "Poisoning of cattle by Bryophyllum plants". Queensland Agricultural Journal. 112 (3): 105–108. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  4. Shaw, J.M.H. (2008). "An investigation of the cultivated Kalanchoe daigremontiana group, with a checklist of Kalanchoe cultivars" (PDF). Hanburyana. 3: 17–79.
  5. Burnie, David (1998). The DK Nature Encyclopedia. New York: DK Publishing, Inc. pp.  29. ISBN   0-7894-3411-3.
  6. Batygina, T. B.; Bragina, E. A.; Titova, G. E. (1996). "Morphogenesis of propagules in viviparous species Bryophyllum daigremontianum and B. calycinum". Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. 65 (1–2): 127–133. doi: 10.5586/asbp.1996.022 .
  7. Herrera, Ileana; Ferrer-Paris, José R.; Hernández-Rosas, José I.; Nassar, Jafet M. (2016). "Impact of two invasive succulents on native-seedling recruitment in Neotropical arid environments". Journal of Arid Environments. 132: 15–25. Bibcode:2016JArEn.132...15H. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.04.007 . Retrieved 6 May 2016.

Further reading